At the end of a successful four-term, 16-year tenure on the Ridgecrest City Council, one of the community's giants is looking on the bright side of his career on what might be the top of his game.

Mayor Ron Carter, who ran for re-election for one of two open seats and came in a close third, was outed in the Nov. 6 elections, but he's looking to move forward.

"I have to be thankful to the community saying 'Ron, thank you for what you've done for the school and community. Retire, spend time with your family and enjoy the rest of your life,'" Carter said in an interview on Nov. 15.

Carter put a positive light on the voters' decisions, even during final comments at the Nov. 8 special council meeting where his family was celebrating at him not having to serve.

"So to me that is positive," he said. "I've been able to give back to my community in a major level of education and as an elected official."

Carter's tenure as a city councilman overlaps a strong educational career with the Sierra Sands Unified School District, which he retired from in 2009. His entire educational career at all levels of education stretch back more than 30 years.

In addition, he has been involved in a number of events and committees over the years, including Kern Council of Governments, the city's ACTION committee, Ridgecrest's Old Town Plan, and various educational matters.

And at the end his career as a public servant, he's kept to his mantra.

"Be positive helpful, supportive," he said.

"It doesn't help to be negative and call people names or blast them," he said. "It just makes you look like the bully you are. We can accomplish anything that we need to in our community by working together."

Carter's initial decision to run 16 years ago was based on a month-long visit to Europe after he took up an invitation to visit a school in Italy, and he found a greater appreciation for the U.S. form of government coming back.

"When the mayor at the time decided not to run, that left an opening on the council and that's when I decided to run," Carter said. "I just appreciated our form of government so much after my experience in Europe."

Carter took office at a time when the city was going through an economic downturn and businesses were shuttering their windows.

"When I first ran for council along with Steve Morgan, the economy was in terrible situation," he said. "We were losing friends and relatives. Businesses were closing and it was terrible."

Carter campaigned and advocated the need for a reverse in direction, going so far as to involve the community and working with Cerro Coso College's President Roe Darnell to establish the city's Economic Development Department.

Page 2 of 4 - The effort received a boost when the Navy base signed on to help, and set about recruiting businesses, community input and soon began thriving.

"We finally got some businesses to come in and our economic development department grew to what it is today," Carter said.

In that time, he's said the economy has improved, despite starts and stops that the state and country have gone through.

"Even with the terrible situation our country is in economically, we're still growing here a little in Ridgecrest and we've always had a some of the best economic numbers in the county, with the exception of maybe Bakersfield," he said. "I'm real proud with what Steve and I had to do in the arena of economic development."

Carter presided over many positive aspects with various councils, one of them the Old Town Plan to revitalize the area around Balsam Street and Ridgecrest Boulevard.

"That was a major thing I've always wanted to see. I've always had visions of what Balsam Street could be so to see that to start to happen is wonderful," Carter said.

Visions like that are something Carter said people should be aware of.

"One thing that people don't understand about councils is that decisions you make today, you may not see the outcome for five or ten years," he said. "So you've got to have people on the council that are visionaries, that can see where the community is headed and what potential it has."

He held the up the Youth Advisory Committee's effort to establish a Boys and Girls Club and skate park as an example.

Carter said it took five years from conception to final product for the skate park to come to fruition.

"The kids stuck with it. They went on to college but came back and still helped with that," Carter said.

Carter said he had spent an entire night rewriting a proposal that the mayor at the time could accept, and it was passed 5-0.

"There was standing room only. It was all the kids, their parents were there. We got a picture of it, it was just great," he said. "Things like that, to take an idea from the youth and put it into actuality was wonderful for me."

Rough Spots, Benz Saga, Positives and Negatives

Carter's time on the council has seen rough spots as well, including harsh budget decisions and the long-enduring Benz Sanitation trash saga.

"The most difficult thing as an elected official was working with budget for the last few years," he said. "How do you tell a friend you no longer have a job? That was the worst thing I had to do."

But the best thing one can do is move beyond the negative aspects of the city.

Page 3 of 4 - "I have fond memories looking back and I ignore the negative," he said.

The legal battle with Benz Sanitation was a prime example of what it took to see some things resolved.

"The Benz situation was very difficult. Now I know why they didn't want to give us the records and why they didn't want to move where the public wanted them to," he said.

He said it was sad to see that "it was more important that their bottom line was the dollars and it wasn't servicing the community.

After it was settled, he said that it was great to have resolved, giving credit to the Ridgecrest police department and city attorney Keith Lemieux.

"Again, we had to ignore all the negative people that came forward," he said. "They used it as a political agenda to get what they wanted and I thought that was sad because it told me they didn't really have an interest in what's best for the city."

He also credited the city staffs he has worked with over the years with having a huge impact on the city.

"The staffs I've worked at with at city hall they've been fantastic, they've been so dedicated to this community," he said.

He recalled a committee he sat on wanted to move forward with the fountain now in Freedom Park, but not having the money to build one to replace the reflecting pool the park had.

"We told (Parks and Recreation Director) Jim Ponek what we wanted but we really didn't have the funds to accomplish for what we envisioned," he said. "But he did it, everything we wanted him to do in that arena, he did it."

He said despite public perception that some tense council meetings leave the impression of mixed feelings between members, there was much the public did not see.

"They didn't see what happened when the council meeting was over," he said. "We move forward, no matter the vote, we moved forward. We're laughing, cracking jokes as we were leaving the chamber."

Now, at the end of his career, he feels positive about the incoming council members and mayor, who will join Councilmen Jason Patin and Chip Holloway.

"I'm confident in the new people taking over," he said. "I believe in each and every one of them, they're good people."

Carter said he intends to stay involved in the community even after full retirement, especially with the Democratic Club of the High Desert. He said he would continue hosting brunches at the Grape Leaf restaurant and inviting local elected officials from the school board, airport board and water district for regular updates and encourage people to get involved in a positive manner.

Page 4 of 4 - "Neighbors are important to me and it's important for the future of our community that if you don't like what city hall is doing or your school district is doing, get involved in a positive manner," he said.

And at the end of the day, it was the community that mattered.

"That's one of the things I enjoy about Ridgecrest, is that it's a positive community," he said.